After my death our beloved Church abroad will break three ways ... first the Greeks will leave us as they were never a part of us ... then those who live for this world and its glory will go to Moscow ... what will remain will be those souls faithful to Christ and His Church.~St. Philaret of NY

This lecture was given in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia at the 24th Russian Youth Congress in the Jubilee Year of the Millennium of the Baptism of Rus' [1988]. The lecture is about the Vatican, its ideology and aggressive politics, and not about rank-and-file Catholics. It appears to us that Roman Catholicism is a great danger, threatening both present and future Russia, more dangerous than communism, which is already on the decline.

As Dostoyevsky points out in his novel The Idiot, "Roman Catholicism is more dangerous than atheism, since it presents to us a profane and desecrated Christ usurping the earthly throne," the Pope took the sword and added, "lies, intrigue, deception, fanaticism, and villainy." Such is the depth of understanding that proceeds from the talented pen of Dostoyevsky. Catholicism is dangerous precisely because it offers a counterfeit Christ.

During our stay in Australia, we learned that for the first time in seventy years, the papal Christmas mass was broadcast on Soviet television. There was also an exchange of delegations. The offence against Orthodoxy and the Russian people continues at a faster tempo.

Deacon Herman Ivanov-Treenadzaty

St. Nicholas Parish, Lyons, France

The Vatican and Russia

We have studied the topic of the endeavors of Rome (the Vatican), which stretches over centuries, to subordinate the Russian Church by force, deception, or craftiness and to seduce the Russian people from the True Path. This is not only a deeply interesting and edifying topic for a church historian, but it is a current theme which obliges every hierarch, priest, Orthodox Christian, and all those, for whom the understanding of "Russia" and "Orthodox" are synonymous, to follow attentively the recurrent contemporary overtures by the Vatican towards Moscow and Orthodoxy.

The theme in question is far from abstract or purely scientific. For this reason we will try, using the experience of the past, to properly explain why it is one of the most important phenomena for the future of Russia, the Third Rome. We must keep in mind that in accordance with Orthodox teaching there is no concept of taught and teacher [i.e. the people and the Pope as in Roman theology]. The responsibility for the purity of the Faith and the preservation of the Church lies on the conscience of every Orthodox Christian.

The current jubilee year of the Millennium of Holy Russia shows us a vivid illustration of the attempts by the Vatican to intrude on this greatest of Russian church events. We imagine that during the past two years, most Orthodox have been following with agitation and alarm the efforts of the Vatican curia and of the Pope himself, so that the "Vicar of Christ" would be invited to the ceremonies [in Russia] and in all likelihood, be the center of attention. 1

It is very interesting to observe all the despairing disinformation circulated with regard to this event. More than once so-called "well informed circles" released, through various channels of the mass media, false or wishful rumors to the effect that an agreement [inviting the pope] was being reached, or would be soon, perhaps placing Moscow in a difficult position, so that, in light of these facts, it would make it difficult for them to refuse.

Let us remember that until the very last minute the Pope postponed the publication of his two "apostolic messages" – one an appeal to Orthodox Russians, the other addressed to uniate Ukrainians. This left all of the Pope's options open to change their contents in case at the last minute, against all the evidence to the contrary, there was a change in position by the Moscow Patriarchate. 2 All the same, these hopes were not realized and on March 22, 1988, John Paul II published his encyclical on the occasion of the Baptism of Rus: Euntes In Mundus (Go Out to All the World). Reliable sources say that it had been edited at the end of 1987 and was signed on the 15th of January. In other words it was lying in the "out box" for a whole three months. The message expounded in part, with strained reserve, on that which has been said, written, and repeated many times, i. e. the reason why the Roman Church cannot stay on the sidelines during this great event. The Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Great Prince Vladimir baptized the Russian nation in the streams of the Dnieper in 988. This happened, the Pope assures us, and those of like mind with him, before the division of the Churches, that is before the falling away of the West from the Church in 1054.

On the one hand one might question whom the Vatican hopes to deceive with such trickery, but on the other one can observe here the [ultimate] limits of western formalistic reasoning. Even if we allow Nestor, the chronicler of the Russian land, some poetic license in his embellishments when describing the choosing of a religion by the emissaries of St. Vladimir, who can seriously deny that the Russian pagans, through the personage of their prince, chose Byzantine Christianity although they had the possibility of choosing any of the existing religion including any one of the various paths within Christianity. Thus, they in principle deliberately rejected Roman Christianity. The Roman Church had fallen away from ancient Christianity, preserved in Orthodoxy, long before 1054, a date which is simply used for convenience but is in fact actually insignificant. John Paul II was already repeating the point he had stretched in his encyclical of July 2, 1985, Slavorum Apostoli (Apostles to the Slavs), that the apostolic mission of the Brother-Saints Cyril and Methodius was allegedly conducted under the the omophorion of both Constantinople and Rome. From this, the Pope draws the direct conclusion that all Slavs, and among them Russians, remain indebted to the Roman Church. This is why the head of the Roman Church considers it his sacred duty to be a benefactor to the Russians and other Slavs!

Regardless of all the political, psychological and diplomatic efforts, the Moscow Patriarchate held its ground and did not yield to seduction. If we often, fully justified, chide the official Church of Moscow on the grounds of its intolerable compromise with the godless powers and for its unfortunately ever-increasing involvement in the ecumenical movement, we should, nonetheless, rejoice when the captive Moscow hierachy manages to resist the onslaught of Catholic influence. Even though in the present case the resistance was not so much out of a feeling of defense for Orthodoxy as one of hostility to Uniatism, which the present Pope openly and secretly supports as the best path for the rebuilding of Christian unity.

Today's ecumenical endeavors, we read in the letter of John Paul II (March 19, 1979) to the now deceased head of Ukrainian Uniates, Cardinal Slipij, "cannot suppress nor diminish the meaning and benefits undertaken in the previous century for the rebuilding of the unity of the Church, which produced such blessed fruits. Your Church shows itself as a witness to this truth. Without question, the current ecumenical spirit should acknowledge and show special respect to your church."

After a half-century of silence by the Vatican concerning Uniatism, the unexpected twist of John Paul II to suddenly bring back to the dark militant epoch of Pius XI, should make us recall the high flown words of Pope Urban VIII, uttered just under four centuries ago in the first year of the forced propagation of Uniatism. "Oh my Rusiny! Through you I hope to obtain the East." 3 One could not better express the essence and deep significance of the presence of Uniatism in the conspiracy against Russian Orthodoxy. There is no better explanation for the guiding force of Catholicism even if it is covered by the smiles and outstretched hands of a falsely loving mother, or comes out openly and unchanging, pursuing for centuries one and the same goal, the conquest of Orthodox souls. The aim remains the same, only the means to obtain it change.

Perhaps there are those who do not share our position as regards Roman Catholicism and do not understand fully why it seemed to us that the presence of the Pope in Russia at their nation-wide celebrations would have been intolerable. Not understanding this situation can only be the result of ignorance of the historical facts which expose the true intent and actions of Catholicism. The Vatican, to a great extent depends on this ignorance.

Within the scope of this short lecture, we naturally are not able to offer an exhaustive presentation of all the friction, aggression and unfriendly acts of the Vatican in relation to Russia. There is much evidence [in support of such a claim of hostility] in the following two works printed in Russian: The Eastern Rite, by K. N. Nikolaev 4 and The Church, Russia and Rome, by N. N. Voiekoff. 5 According to the expression of A. S. Khomyakov, one of the most eminent sons of Russia throughout her 1000 year history, the religious hatred of Catholicism in regard to Orthodoxy can be illustrated by four examples, taken from four separate historical periods:

1. The activity of Josaphat Kuntsevich in connection with the appearance of the Uniate Church.

2. The "eastern question" and the years of liberation in the XIXth century.

3. The so-called "Eastern Rite," as a new means of battle with Orthodoxy, resulting as a consequence of the overthrow of the Orthodox Tsarist Power.

4. The attempts at an agreement, in the past ten years, with the Soviet authorities on the ruins of the Russian Church.

Let us recall the massive forced conversions to Roman Catholicism in Poland during the period between the two world wars, as well as the genocide of 700,000 Orthodox Serbs between 1941 and 1945, 6 which took place in the militant Roman Catholic "Independent State." The Orthodox in Croatia were forced to wear the Cyrillic letter "P" for Pravoslavets or Orthodox, like the Jews who were forced to wear the Star of David during World War II. This is unequivocal evidence that the Serbs were exterminated by militant, brutal Roman Catholic Croatians simply because they belonged to our Holy Orthodox Church. The Catholic Archbishop of Zagreb, Stepinac, showed complete indifference to this activity and was even elevated to the rank of Cardinal by Pius XII, who was totally silent concerning this matter.

The Uniate Question

There is a great deal of controversy over this question. We will first add, that the Soviet authorities must be censured for victimizing the Uniates as they should be censured for subjecting other confessions to similar victimizations. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the Russian Orthodox people must have a guilt complex over this, something which is insistently being instilled in their hearts and souls by various means of publish opinion. When similar pressure comes out of emigre newspapers which have lost completely all feeling of nationality it is indeed a sad occurrence, but one which we are already accustomed to. What is even more sad and utterly unacceptable is when a pastor gives in to temptation, placing in the forefront of his thinking the notorious so-called "human rights" and the battle with the "personality cult" [which are empty catch phrases inapplicable here].

In connection with the Uniate question, the conditions and the setting within which the Unia of 1595-96 and the following years was imposed must be firmly brought to mind. Six hierarch-apostates, headed by Mikhail Ragoza, started a purely clerical movement, totally separated from the people, without any regard for tradition [and therefore illegal]. Let us also not forget the flagrant lawlessness and persecution which confessors from among the people, organized into the famous brotherhoods, were subjected to. We must also not lose sight of the fact that the "Greek Faith" [Orthodoxy], existing on the territory of the Polish Lithuanian State was not recognized as lawful, and judging by the facts, was outside the law. This allowed the pany (Polish lords) to dispose of Orthodox property with impunity, to give their churches and cathedrals to the Uniates or even to lease them to the Jews!

In other words, it should be clear that if the Uniates are now suffering, it is because of their guilt of four centuries ago, connected with the false council of 1595 and the "initiative group" of 1946. In the past it was the Catholic authorities and Polish lords who persecuted the Orthodox and did not recognize the Unia, and now the Soviet authorities persecute the Uniates who do not abide by the decisions of the Lvov Council of 1946. It is not the Orthodox who persecute the Uniates but the Godless Communists. This should, however, not prevent us from rejoicing that a majority of the faithful, who were once pulled away from the fold, have now returned. Today for some reason, repentance is insistently demanded of Orthodox in conjunction with the liquidation of Uniatism in Soviet Russia. But we ask, when did any of the Roman popes express their regret concerning encroachment on the rights of the Orthodox, and all the crimes committed against them by Uniatism? None of the Popes ever expressed their regret, including the present John Paul II, who does not let an occasion pass in order to praise the monster Josaphat Kuntsevich, considered by the Vatican to be a hieromartyr.

The very memory of this most evil of personalities is inconceivably scandalous. To recall his last name is in itself a "casus belli." Just before his "martyr's end," which occurred on November 12, 1623 in Vitebsk, Kuntsevich ordered the disposal of dead Orthodox by having their corpses exhumed and thrown to dogs. In all of his Polotsky diocese, both in Mogilyov and Orsha, he pillaged and terrorized the Orthodox, closing and burning churches. Eloquent complaints were sent to judges and to the Polish Sejm. The most convincing condemnation of Kuntsvich's character is found in a letter dated March 12, 1622, one and a half years before his death, from the Lithuanian chancellor Leo Sapiega, clearly a Roman Catholic, the representative of the Polish king himself: "By thoughtless violence you oppress the Russian people and urge them to revolt. You are aware of the censure of the simple people, that it would be better to be in Turkish captivity than to endure such persecutions for faith and piety. You write that you freely drown the Orthodox, chop off their heads, and profane their churches. You seal their churches so the people, without piety and Christian rites, are buried like non-Christians. In place of joy, your cunning Uniatism has brought us only woe, unrest, and conflict. We would prefer to be without it. These are the fruits of your Uniatism."7 Let us remember that these words are not the fantasies or slanders of a fanatically-tempered Orthodox, but the contents of a historical letter from the head of a Roman Catholic state, the Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, written on behalf of the Polish King to a turbulent Uniate bishop. In the very same letter and with much foresight Leo Sapiega writes, "It would have been better not to have given us nationwide strife and hatred, and instead to have preserved us from nationwide condemnation."

Arriving in Vitebsk on the 12th of November, 1623, with a band of his cohorts, Kuntsevich proceeded to knock down the tents where the Orthodox secretly held divine services. One of Kuntsevich's deacons attacked an Orthodox priest. The crowd, which had run out of patience, then turned on Kuntsevich, who was personally leading this pogrom, and with sticks and stones beat him to death. His maimed body was placed in a sack and tossed into the Diva River. Such was the inglorious end of the earthly life of this alleged "apostle of unity" as none other than Pope John Paul II shamelessly dares to call him. Before John Paul II, Pius IX on June 29, 1867 already glorified Josaphat Kuntsevich as a saint. In 1923, on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of Kuntsvich's death, Pius XI published an encyclical Ecclesian Dei (The Church of God)8 in which Kuntsevich is named "hieromartyr," a "righteous person," and where it is said that such an example of "holy life" should aid in unifying all Christians.

On November 25, 1963, during the rule of Paul VI, Kuntsevich's remains were brought to Rome to the papal basilica of St. Peter, where they now "rest" under the altar of St. Basil the Great, near the relics of Sts. Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. 9 Without any remorse and at the same time scorning historical truth in order to satisfy his petty interests in a struggle with Orthodoxy, John Paul II is not afraid to speak about the "noble personality" of Josaphat, "whose spilled blood has forever fortified the great work of the Unia." In his message to his Ukrainian flock, Magnum Baptismi Donum (The Great Gift of Baptism), published on April 19, 1988 10 not a single word rectifies the now established [false] representation of Uniatism and the actions of Kuntsevich.

At the same time, the Roman Catholic community continues to demand from the Orthodox certain acts of repentance and apologies for damages carried out against them, as well as for unfriendly and unchristian relations.

The Eastern Question

Concerning international relations, the entire XIXth century passed under the banner of the Eastern Question. The enemies of Russia, both past and present continue to brand and label the XIXth century efforts of Russia as nothing more than imperialism. While not totally excluding the possibility that Russia had political concerns in the Crimean War, we nonetheless are aware of the fact that for both Russians and their rulers the war with Turkey was fought to liberate captive Orthodox Christians. It was accepted as a duty of conscience, as a mission, given by Divine Providence to Russia, which at the time was the most powerful government. Noble deeds are rarely seen in international relations and are thus not readily understood. War with the infidel Turks was understood by Russia as a battle between good and evil. Russia made sacrifices but also had successes during the battles to liberate the Slavs, who shared the same faith, and who had for five centuries languished under Turkish oppression. To this very day on the central square of the Bulgarian capital of Sofia rises the grand monument to the Tsar-Liberator Alexander II and all the valiant Russian warriors. The Russian fleet also took part in the engagement at Navarinsk in 1827, and the events that followed, which led to the liberation of Orthodox Greece in 1830. The most cherished dream, however, of liberating Constantinople was not realized. For this sad fact humanity is indebted, one might discern, to a great extent to the Vatican.

Until now, the Crimean war and the whole "Eastern Question" have been explained by historians in terms of human, political and intergovernmental considerations, without the role of the Vatican being mentioned. The latter was the instigating and compelling force behind the infamous fact that caused England and France to become allies of the infidel Turks against Orthodox Russia. Though the Vatican had no real army to speak of, it made up for it by an abundance of influential, secret advisors and agents, a whole army of clerics scattered throughout the world. To substantiate this, we quote the words of the Archbishop of Parish, Cardinal Sibor, which were pronounced at the start of the Crimean War, "It is a sacred deed, a God-pleasing deed, to ward off the Photian heresy [Orthodoxy] , subjugate it and destroy it with a new crusade. This is the clear goal of today's crusade. Such was the goal of all the crusades, even if all their participants were not fully aware of it. The war which France is now preparing to wage against Russia is not a political war but a holy war. It is not a war between two governments or between two peoples, but is precisely a religious war, and other reasons presented are only pretexts." 11 The truth could not be more clearly stated. Khomyakov very perceptively notes that the ancestors of the Roman Catholics who had long ago committed "moral fatricide" by unilaterally changing the Creed inevitably would resort to "physical fratricide." 12

Dostoyevsky illustrates that Cardinal Sibor was not the only warrior on the field when he writes so frankly about a Roman Catholic conspiracy. "Militant Roman Catholicism savagely takes the side of the Turks. At the moment, there are no more savage haters of Russia than these militant clerics. It was not some prelate but the Pope himself, who loudly and with joy spoke of the 'victories of the Turks' and predicted a 'fateful future' for Russia at various Vatican meetings. This dying old man, the 'head of Christianity' was not ashamed to admit in public that every time he hears of a Russian defeat he experiences joy."13

There words of Dostoyevsky are in accord with the above quoted statements of Khomyakov, when he speaks of religious hatred of Orthodoxy. "In the western confessions, in the bottom of every soul rests a deep hostility for the Eastern Church." This statement can easily be backed by the example of the Crimean War where, "one camp consists of people confessing Orthodoxy and the other camp consists of Romans and Protestants united around Islam." 14

The "Eastern Rite" and the Bolshevik Revolution

Unfriendly pronouncements by prominent Roman Catholic leaders concerning Russia are so numerous and patent, that no one can possibly deny them. The tsarist Orthodox power was the bulwark which crushed the Vatican's dream and pretensions to Roman catholicize Russian souls. Every turn and convulsion in Russian political and social life was followed in Rome with great interest. The repeal of serfdom in 1861, as well as the rise in anarchy and nihilism gave much hope [to the Vatican]. "Only a revolution will be able to help the Church," 15 was the opinion of the papal nuncio Meglius in 1868. No sooner had the "imperial Manifesto of Tolerance" been declared on June 17, 1905, than Rome began to extract and make use of all the advantages which were contained in this manifesto which gave freedom of conscience to all Russian citizens.

Nonetheless, Pope Pius X (who was canonized in 1954) pronounced on the very eve of World War I, "Russia is the greatest enemy of the [Roman] Church." 16 Therefore it is not surprising that the Roman Catholic world greeted the Bolshevik Revolution with joy. "After the Jews the Catholics did probably more than anyone else to organize the overthrow of tsarist power. At least they did nothing to stop it." 17 Shamelessly and with great candidness they wrote in Rome as soon as the Bolshevik "victory" became evident: "there had been uncontained pleasure over the fall of the tsarist government and that Rome did not waste any time in entering into negotiations with the Soviet Government." 18 When a leading Vatican dignitary was asked why the Vatican was against France during World War II, he exclaimed, "The victory of the Entente allied with Russia would have been as great a catastrophe for the Roman Catholic Church as the Reformation was." 19 Pope Pius conveyed this feeling in his typically abrupt manner: "If Russia is victorious, then the schism is victorious." As we can see, World War II was just another crusade for the Vatican.

Even though the Vatican had long prepared for it, the collapse of the Orthodox Russian empire caught it unaware. It very quickly came to its senses. The collapse of Russia did not yet mean that Russia could turn Roman Catholic. For this, a new plan of attack was needed. Realizing that it would be as difficult for and Englishman to proselytize in Ireland as for a Pole in Russia, the Vatican understood the necessity of finding a totally different method of battle with Orthodoxy, which would painlessly and without raising the slightest suspicion, ensnare and subordinate the Russian people to the Roman Pope. The Machiavellian scheme was the appearance of the so-called "Eastern Rite," which its defenders understood as "the bridge by which Rome will enter Russia," to quote an apt expression of K.N. Nikolayev. 20

This treacherous plot, which can be likened to a ship sailing under a false flag, had very quick success in the first years after the establishment of Soviet power. This took place in the blood-bathed Russia and abroad, where feverish activities were begun amongst the hapless emigres, such as finding them work, putting their immigration status in order, and opening Russian language schools for them and their children.

It cannot be denied that there were cases of unmercenary help, but in the overwhelming majority of cases, this charitable work had a thinly disguised confessional goal, to lure by various means the unfortunate refugees into what seemed at first glance, to be true Orthodox churches, but which at the same time commemorated the pope. Who can say what vestiges, what kind of indelible stamp, remained on the souls, the thoughts and the actions of those who at one time or another came into contact with this movement?

In Russia the experiment with the "Eastern Rite" lasted more than ten years. In the West, one can still occasionally come across one of the Roman Catholic "Eastern Centers." Among them, the Chevetogne Benedictine Monastery in Belgium remains the most viable. Their goals and possibilities are now no longer as lofty as they once were. The are now a sort of museum, an historical witness of the past. If one were to speak of their current influence it would be in the publishing field.

Regardless of the harmless face this movement seems to present today, seventy years ago it dreamt quite frankly of swallowing up Russian Orthodoxy. The heart and soul of the papal "Ostpolitik," its eastern politics, was a Jesuit, the French Bishop D'Erbigny, who was specifically authorized by the pope to conduct negotiations with the Kremlin for a wide dissemination of Roman Catholicism in the Soviet Union and by the same token the supplantation of Orthodoxy in Russia and in Russian souls.

With this in mind, D'Erbigny traveled three times to the Soviet Union on a French diplomatic passport. He consecrated several Roman Catholic hierarchs with the aim of building up a group of Russian Catholic clergymen who would be acceptable to the Soviet authorities. Let us listen to the limits of open amorality that these clerics were capable of: "Bolshevism is liquidating priests, desecrating churches and holy sites, and destroying monasteries. Is this not where the religious mission of irreligious Bolshevism lies, in the disappearance of the carriers of schismatic thought, as it were setting a "clean table" (tabula rasa) which gives us the possibility of spiritual re-creation." 21 For those to whom it is not clear just what kind of spiritual reconstruction the Benedictine monk Chrysostom Bayer is referring to, his thoughts can be amplified by the official Viennese Catholic journal, Bayrisher Kunier: "Bolshevism is creating the possibility for the conversion of stagnant Russia to Catholicism." 22

No one less than the exarch of the Russian Catholics, Leonid Feodorov, who, when tried in March of 1923 along with fourteen other clergymen and one layman, pathetically testified to the sincerity of his feelings in relation to the Soviet authorities, who, Feodorov thought later, did not fully understand what could be expected of Roman Catholicism. He explained, "From the time that I gave myself to the Roman Catholic Church, my cherished dream was to reconcile my homeland with this church, which for me is the only true one. But we were not understood by the government. All Latin Catholics heaved a sigh of relief when the October Revolution took place ... I myself greeted with enthusiasm the decree about the separation of Church and State ... Only under Soviet rule, when the Church and State were separated, could we breathe freely. As a religious believer, I saw in this liberation the hand of God."23 Let us not lose sight of the fact that all of these declarations by Roman Catholics, who were quite friendly with the Soviets, were pronounced in a nightmarish period when the Soviets were trying to eradicate the Orthodox Church. Keeping in mind that Vatican diplomacy adheres to the principle that the end justifies the means, which is illustrated throughout its many-centuried history, the game which the Vatican has been playing with Moscow should be clearly understood. The essence of the matter is that Russia has become a sacrifice to two principles hostile to it, Catholicism and godless communism, which are drawn together by a curious concurrence of interests. Moscow realizes that the eradication of faith from the Russian soul is a hopeless task. 24 As long as the Russian Church remained faithful to itself, uncompromising to the godless power, courageously witnessing to the fundamental incompatibility between Christian and communist principles, the Soviet leaders were ready for two reasons to graciously study the variant of Roman Catholicism offered to them. By this means, they hoped to manipulate the religiousness of the Russian soul.

The first reason is Rome's consistent, impeccable loyalty to the communist regime, both in the U.S.S.R. and outside of it. Secondly, it was advantageous to the Kremlin, or simply entertaining, that the religious needs of the Russians should be quenched by this centuries-old enemy of Orthodoxy. For their part, the Catholics were ready to close their eyes to all the atrocities of Bolshevism, including the shooting of the Roman Catholic Bishop Butkevich in April of 1923 and the imprisonment of Bishops Tseplyak, Malyetsky, and Feodorov. Six weeks later, the Vatican expressed its sorrow over the assassination of the Soviet agent Vorovsky in Lausanne! The People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs told the German ambassador, "Pius XI was amiable to me in Genoa, expressing hope that we [the Bolsheviks] would break the monopoly of the Orthodox Church in Russia, thus clearing a path for him." 25

We have discovered information of the greatest importance in the archives of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A secret telegram No. 266 of February 6, 1925 from Berlin, stated that the Soviet ambassador Krestinsky, told Cardinal Pacelli (the future Pius XII) that Moscow would not oppose the existence of Roman Catholic bishops and a metropolitan on Tussian territory. Furthermore, the Roman clergy were offered the very best conditions. Six day later, secret telegram No. 284 spoke of permission being granted for the opening of a Roman Catholic seminary. Thus, while our holy New Martyrs were being annihilated with incredible cruelty, the Vatican was conducting secret negotiations with Moscow. In short, Rome attempted to gain permission to appoint the necessary bishops and even permission to open a seminary. Our evidence shows that this question was discussed once more in high circles in autumn of 1926. In all likelihood, it had not been satisfactorily settled earlier. This might be viewed as the culmination of the unnaturally close relations between the Vatican and the Soviet government.

July 29, 1927, is considered to be one of the saddest and most fatal days in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church. On this day, Metropolitan Sergius (Starogorodsky), allegedly on behalf of the Church, wrote his pernicious declaration in favor of and according to the directives of the godless powers. He signed the declaration, although he was not authorized to do so, and came into direct conflict with and received overwhelming opposition from his brother bishops, and thus laid the basis for the so-called "Soviet Church." We will not discuss this amoral deed here, the consequences of which are still being felt some sixty years later. We will only say that its unexpected and indirect result was that Moscow put an end to the negotiations and the attention it was devoting to Vatican offers. All the same, this does not in any way lessen the immorality of the political line of Metropolitan Sergius. We can only say that neither he, nor his supporters, nor his opponents, ever brought this fact to light, either in defense or denunciation. We reiterate that this positive though absolutely accidental and secondary consequence of his censured actions cannot serve as a justification of an explanation of the politics of Metropolitan Sergius. Quite simply, neither he nor his successors thought of this. 26

The restitution of the traditional [in appearance] Russian Orthodox Church, neutralized as it were, seemed more useful to the Soviet authorities than the Vatican. From then on, the Soviets lost interest in the Vatican. Only at the end of 1929 and the beginning of 1930 did the Vatican finally admit that it had suffered a political defeat and began to condemn vociferously the Bolshevik crimes. It had somehow not noticed them until 1930. Only in 1937 did Pope Pius XI release the encyclical Divini Redemptori (Divine Redeemer) which denounced communism.

In our introduction to this lecture, we said that this was not only a historical theme, but a timely one as well. In 1937, when the Vatican openly broke with Moscow, the Russian Church had already endured twenty years of Leninist terror and Stalinist terror; and there were several more decades ahead of it in which it would spill its blood in battle with the God-hating Soviet authorities. Until this very day, the Church continues to endure persecution and limitation of its fundamental rights. In the 1930's the only improvement was that the Russian Orthodox Church had only one enemy, but what an enemy! Since the enemy in fact was theomachistic communism, defense against the cunning pretensions of the Roman Catholics, trying to deceive the flock, could be but peripheral. Several weeks before his martyric end in July of 1922, St. Benjamin of Petrograd said to the Roman Catholic exarch, Leonid Feodorov, "You offer us unification..., and all the while your Latin priests behind our backs, are sowing ruin amongst our flock." 27 Some of the better clergy fought to the end, confessing the purity of Orthodoxy and its incompatibility with communism. Others thought that by compromises and lies they could "save" the Church, as they put it. The rest simply sold the Church and her interests for a "pot of porridge."

Recent Soviet/Vatican Collaboration

With the arrival of Gorbachev to power and the much acclaimed introduction of "perestroika," we notice a change in the course of events in our wasted homeland. We will not go into a political analysis of all that is happening before our eyes. We will only say that thanks to, or more likely in spite of Gorbachev, something is happening, the ice is melting. We cannot say what this process will lead to. We only note that this is all taking place in the Millennium Jubilee Year of Holy Russia, and without a doubt through the intercessions of the newly-glorified New Martyrs with the Royal Martyr Nicholas II.

We must also note that the Russian Orthodox are not the only ones that are following the events in Russia. The enemy also does not sleep. In sprite of many attempts Pope John Paul II was not able to personally participate in our jubilee. One event did occur, which in our view may have long-term consequences. We have in mind the meeting between Gorbachev and Cardinal Cassaroli at the end of the Moscow festivities in July 1988. Cardinal Cassaroli is the Secretary of State of the Vatican and thus the second-in-command. Many Roman Catholics look upon him with suspicion. He was the spirit behind the Vatican's "Ostpolitic" under John XXII and Paul VI. He was also a close friend of the late metropolitan of Leningrad, Nikodim (Rostov). Roman Catholicism is famous for its unprincipled politics. Many people all the same naively wondered why in the papal message on the occasion of the Millennium, there was no judgement of the persecution to which believers in the U.S.S.R. are still being subjected. 28 We add this: despite the fact that Roman Catholics like to celebrate jubilees, the fiftieth anniversary in 1987 of the encyclical Divini Redemptoris, which denounced communism, passed unnoticed. The twentieth anniversary of the relatively new encyclical Populorum progresso (about the social doctrine of the Roman Church) however, was marked with much fanfare. 29

In other words the groundwork is being laid and it pays to be cautious of the smallest word which might offend the current Soviet leadership. Returning to the agenda of Cardinal Casaroli, one can see that it carries a political message. Stating that the Vatican is following "Perestroika" with great interest, which has [in their opinion] a Christian basis, Casaroli triumphantly gave a secret message: to Gorbachev from John Paul II. Roman Catholicism, in general loves secrets. It is not difficult for us to guess the likely contents of the secret message: the assurance of full support by the Vatican for "Perestroika" legalization of the Uniate Church, which has since come to pass, and in general a reappraisal of the fate of Catholicism in the U.S.S.R. Is this not a symbolic restoration of relations between Moscow and the Vatican, which were broken in 1927? In other words, not having gotten its way through the Church hierarchy, by direct means, the Vatican dreams of achieving its goal through the Soviet authorities, which will not interfere in the continuation of its ecumenical relations with the Moscow Patriarchate. We will follow the speeches and the future trips of the pope. It is known that Gorbachev is planning a trip to Italy. In the given situation, Gorbachev will be offered an audience in the Vatican. Under such conditions can Gorbachev refuse a return visit to the person that will give him, before the whole world, a certificate of respectability?

To such an end the Vatican stretches out its lavish hand of help, protection and compassion towards the persecuted. Alas, many are ready to grab this hand. We wish that all Orthodox in the "Fatherland and scattered in the diaspora" would keep in mind these historical facts which we have brought forth, not for the sake of revenge, but for the sake of the future of Russia. A questionable friend can be far worse than an open enemy.

Let the declaration of Metropolitan Anthony serve as an example to all.

Let the declaration of Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of blessed memory serve as an example to all. The founder of the Russian Church Abroad, Metropolitan Anthony was an eminent theologian and a real father of the Church in our time. In this declaration, which was written on June 10, 1922 in Sremski Karlovci, Serbia in connection with the arrest of Patriarch Tikhon, he decreed, "To turn with a special appeal, to raise our voice in protest against the violence used against His Holiness the Patriarch of all the Russians, to all the heads of other Orthodox and non-Orthodox Churches, except for the Pope of Rome, about whom we have precise evidence that he not only entered into negotiations with the Christ-betraying Bolsheviks, but attempted to use the persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church and her glory to the mercenary ends of militant Roman Catholicism."30 Let these sober words of our venerable and unforgettable abba serve as an example for our behavior and our relations toward the help offered by the Vatican for the present and future Russia.

FOOTNOTES

1) Joseph Vantris, the church reviewer of the influential Paris newspaper, "Le Figaro" wrote an article on March 5, 1988 that the presence of the Latin pope at the millennium celebrations would darken the honor of the jubilee.

2) It became known that on the 18/19 March, two assistants of the pope's personal secretary set off for Moscow, where it was orally confirmed that an invitation to the pope was out of the question and that the Roman Catholic Church would be represented only by a Vatican delegation. One day later the pope's message was published. Being used to triumphant traveling about the whole world and having spent enormous energy on attempting to be invited, it is evident that John Paul II painfully experienced the unusual position of being a supplicant, thereby lowering his papal dignity. For this reason, in all likelihood, they spread (in the media) the pretentious conditions, allegedly determined by him for his trip to Moscow.

3) By "Rusiny," the Pope meant those from Galacia, who went under his omophorion. See Depreaux, E., "L'URSS et L'Eglise Catholique," "Le Monde Slave," e11-2, 1927, p. 447.

6) Of the general population of six million, the new government counted two million Serbs.

7) The text of this letter can be found in several publications in Russian, with several variations due to translation. It is also included in the appendix to the two-volume work of the Catholic scholar, Dom Alponse Guepin: Un apotre de l'union des Eglises au XViie siecle Saint Josaphat et l'Eglise Greco-Slave en Pologne et en Russe, Paris tom I: 1897, tom II 1898.

8) It is interesting to note that Pius XI commissioned Bishop D'Erbigny to compose this encyclical about Josaphat Kuntsevich.

9) Let us remember that the translation of these "relics" took place during Vatican II, where there were several non-Roman Catholic observers. From the Russian Church Abroad, Archbishop Anthony of Geneva and Western Europe was representing the synod, since he was the closest hierarch to Rome. Learning of the planned "festivities," Archbishop Anthony raised a loud protest and went to the Russian Church in Rome, where he served a triumphant prayer of intercession (Moleben) to the martyred victims of Kuntsevich. The famous Cardinal Willibrands unconvincingly tried to assure him that no one in the Vatican knew of the "pastoral actions" of Kuntsevich, that Rome had never thought of offending the Orthodox in the least, and on the contrary hoped by this act to honor the "Eastern Church." This incident was published in several newspapers with wide circulation.

10) This message was of a confidential nature to Ukrainian hierarchs on Feb. 14, 1968.

11) This message prompted Khomyakov to write a second polemical brochure, like all of his other theological essays in French: "A Few Words Of An Orthodox Christian About the Western Confessions," and "L'Eglise Latine et le Protestantisme au point de vue de 'Eglise d'Orient," Lausanne-Vevey, Benda, pp. 94-95.

12) ibid, p. 97.

13) F. M. Dostoyevsky, Diary Of A Writer, September 1877, 1-3.

14) Op. Cit., Khomyakov, pp. 94 & 96

15) Cited by Seraphim, Bishop of Potsdam, in the article, "Catholicism and Bolshevism" in the collection Acts of the Second All-Diaspora of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, Belgrade, p. 327.

The story has been told before, but it needs to be retold in an issue of Living Orthodoxy especially dedicated to St. John. It has been only a few years since we learned of St. John, of his life and works and miracles, which made him even during his lifetime in the last years of imperial Russia on of the best-loved and best-known men of his tome. Shortlu after we came to know fo him, the feast day of his canonization came aboutm and for the first time a Molebeb (a short intercessory prayer-service) was celebrated at Agape Community at that time. I was uncertain whether I would even be able to celebrate the service, because of a severly threatening resurgence of a long-standing back injury which had more than once completely incapacitated me.

Despite the threat and the pain, the service was celebrated as planned. At one point during it, I felt a minor "pop' in my spine, and felt an awareness that, had the back problem been the matter of concern in the service, healing would have been available. I thought no more about the matter that evening, although at some time Matushka had remarked that my spine was visibly out of line, that I was 'standing crooked'.

During the night following, I half-awakened, with a terrible sensation which I later described as feeling as if a dozen chiropracters had suddenly and simultaneously set upon me, brunching every bone in my back. I also had the vague sense that I had cried out. Waking up the next morning, I asked Matushka whether I ahd cried out in my slee; she replied that indeed I had, frightebingly so. I told her of the sensation I had experienced, and with a certain degree of awe and apprehension got out of bed, with a prayer that what I felt had happened might really have have happened. As I stool up and took a few tentative steps, she exclaimed 'You're straight', and I was aware that while there was still muscular soreness from the days of stress, the terrible pain was gone. Scarcely daring to believe, I went about my business. To this day, although there have been acccasional episodes of soreness in that same part of my back, I have never again suffered the disabling apin I had so many times undergone.

Shortly thereafter, visitin at St. Hermans' Monastery, I related this story to Fr. SEraphim. His respinse, characteristic in its simplicity and matter-of-factness of those who have come to know the profound provision made for our healing by Our Lord: 'Father John is a powerful intercessor.'

Somebody on a control-trip is concerned with their image, not with the truth.

Below is copied an excerpt from a book by Patricia Evans* wherein she discusses the cause, effects, and possible cure for the controlling personality. This particular quote is a self-realization of one of her clients – a controlling man who honestly tried to cease his psychological abuse of his wife.

"I would never do anything that might be perceived improper by the general public. In public I wouldn't burst into a rage or demean someone because that would ruin my squeaky-clean image. In public my need to be right was satisfied even if I didn't win if I was seen as a good sport. It's like you can be right but look like an idiot if you lose your cool expressing it. What matters is who sees. And I was master. No one saw. I deeply needed others to respect me. One of my greatest fears was that someone besides my wife would find out I was behaving improperly."

As we heard in today’s Gospel reading, the Word of God is often likened to a
seed. Some seeds grow and bear fruit, while others die and remain fruitless. It is good
when seeds produce fruit, but detrimental when they wither away. Today’s parable about
the sower points out that out of those listening to the Word of God (and there are so many
who do not even want to listen) only one-fourth of them keep it with a good and pure
heart and produce fruit with patience.
Almost 2000 years have passed since this parable was told, and we can testify
sadly that there are hardly even a quarter of such people out of all Christians. Isn’t it
painful to think of this? It is difficult to accept the fact that the Kingdom of God will be
established not on this earth that we know and are used to, through the efforts of all
Christians, but in a new world, after this earth and everything on it will be destroyed and
perish in fire. It is extremely difficult for a person who is seeking God, since it is indeed
a lonely task! He is like a very small island in the midst of a boundless ocean of
lukewarm Christians and outright atheists. All this is difficult and tormenting to bear.
Why is it like this? Why does not Christ’s work spread freely? If we are able to
understand the reason for this, then we would understand why the Lord allowed the first
people to fall into sin and why He, with His Almighty power, did not force them to stay
away from sin.
We should always remember that God’s work in the world is a work of love and
freedom. He could have made man a robot who would have fulfilled the will of God
unquestioningly, but if that were so, man would become lower than animals!
And so, man can indeed use his will and freedom in accepting or rejecting the
Word of God which gives purpose to life. Using his free will, man can either uproot the
tares which choke the seeds of the Word of God, or allow them to grow. We are to
understand that the thorns and thistles choking the words of Divine truth refer to all the
various false teachings prevalent today. There are many such false teachings, and they
act like carbon monoxide. They enter the mind undetected and darken it so that we lose a
clear perception of our surroundings. This carbon monoxide gas not only stifles the truth
in a man, but also any striving for the truth.
What should we do when we unwittingly hear or read something that acts like
carbon monoxide in our spiritual life? It will jeopardize our spiritual discernment unless
we expel it from our minds, calling on our Savior for help, and then it will disappear like
smoke. Discernment in our Christian spiritual life is that good moisture that helps the
seeds to sprout.
So, the Lord has placed our fate into our own hands: the choice is salvation or
perdition. The Word of salvation is sown in every soul. Let us receive it joyfully and
keep it carefully, taking it with us through all the adversities of life, knowing that without
it we are blind and pitiful. Amen.
+Bp. Joseph

A machine translation reveals that while some misunderstandings and perceived mishandling of certain Church situations were excuses for the schism, the main cause of the schism is "an unclear concept of the Church" -- and the resulting faulty reasoning I call "jurisdictional ecumenism." The under-ban Bishop Andronik is calling it "schismo-ecumenism" and does not see that he himself is under its influence. He has misinterpreted Vl. Agafangel's past ideas for possibilities for the R-fragments to return intact. Vl. Agafangel meant they might be able to keep only their organizational structure intact - not also their own jurisdiction. They could continue to govern themselves as usual, but they would be rejoined in us and commemorating Vl. Agafangel at the Liturgies.

In judging the Mountain View schism one clear sign needs to be kept in the forefront. It is the same sign that pointed the right way in the ROCOR-MP schism: namely our Sister Churches – Greeks, Bulgarians, and Romanians – all firmly and unhesitatingly recognize Vl. Agafangel's synod as the sole true valid continuation of the ROCOR.

This is an irrefutable Witness and unquestionable Testimony of God's will.

The only right thing for the schismatics to do is to return and trudge through the ironing out of their problems with their true synod.

We, the representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and the True Orthodox Church of Greece, testify that the Church of Christ from the very foundation of the world to the end of the world was and is Edina, it can not divide into equitable and saving branches or fragments.

ROCOR-GOC Joint Appeal to those in Schism 13/26 October 2017

Definitions of "jurisdictional ecumenism":

• The recently emerged version of the harmful ecumenical heresy, which maintains that in recent times the Church has lost its unity and will consist of separate groups that do not have a prayerful and eucharistic communion with each other.

Our Synod Message to all the faithful children of ROCOR 13/26 October 2017

• The heretic confession of the fact that the Church was supposedly divided into separate, equally gratifying groups especially spread in recent times and promotes divisions and formations of new jurisdictions even among seemingly earnest Christians sincerely wishing to be saved. We do not accept and reject this false teaching, as a kind of ecumenical heresy, stating that the Church of Christ was divided into branches.

ROCOR-GOC Joint Appeal to those in Schism 13/26 October 2017

A Definition of us:

In fact, today we are the remnant of the Local Russian Church, which preserved through the Russian Orthodox Church abroad the canonical succession and undistorted Orthodox faith.

The Council of Bishops issued a decree ordering each bishop to provide information on the events taking place in his diocese.

We invite clergymen and parishioners of our Church to participate in the work of our website the Internet Cathedral. To provide materials about services and other events occurring in the parishes of the diocese, as well as to share their thoughts about the life of our Church and talk about interesting events that happened elsewhere, and about everything that can be interesting and useful for the Orthodox people. Please also donate to support the work of this site.

Having gathered in the God-saved city of Odessa, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad appeals to all Orthodox Christians whose conscience does not accept the modern heresies and innovations. These heresies are actively cultivated in our time by apostates and supporters of globalism.

In our sorrowful days, all the signs of the end times are painfully intensifying. They range from massive natural disasters and wars to the spread of apostasy and wickedness. We are experiencing the period of “casting away stones” [Eccl. 3:5. Russian: “Scattering”, transl. note]. Splits and divisions arise without any substantial motives. People who call themselves Christians unite, not around Christ, but around their personal, miniscule interests. Alternatively, people unite over “political super-tasks” which are distant from the Gospel, as is happening in so-called world Orthodoxy. In the Russian Federation, the official church has become an inseparable part of the ruling class and political elite, irrevocably entrenched in heresy, and spiritually fallen lower than in Soviet times. The Ukraine is given the goal to escape as far as possible from the Russian Federation, as well as, unfortunately, from historical Russia. Therefore, here the emphasis is primarily on Uniatism. We see how the heresies of ecumenism, syncretism (primarily in the form of the introduction of Latinism), Sergianism and modernism increasingly capture so-called world orthodoxy. There is no longer any hope for its recovery from this deadly disease. The more this illness grows in official orthodoxy, the greater the gap will be between it and those who seek to live by the Gospel and the teachings of the Holy Fathers. Both in Russia, the Ukraine, and, especially in Belarus, our Church finds itself in a very unfavourable position, if not in direct persecutions, then in mediated ones. In the West the old emigres have all but departed for the other world. People from the post-Soviet republics have come to take the place of the old emigration, radically changing its spirit. The Church Abroad has become completely different in spirit from what She was under Metropolitan Philaret, and even under Metropolitan Vitaly. A part of the ROCA, having joined with the Moscow Patriarchate, has long ago and irretrievably lost its identity with the former, historic Church Abroad. It has instead become infected with the ecumenical, Sergianist, and latin spirit introduced into the MP.

Thus, today we find ourselves in a new situation. It is the result of changes in the position of the Church that took place in the 20th century and the beginning of the current century. The true Church, which seeks to preserve the patristic traditions, has been significantly reduced in numbers. She has been completely isolated from any influence over political and social processes. In part, this frees the Church of direct responsibility for the massive, global apostasy of modern society. Indeed, we cannot fight mass apostasy, except by prayers and by protecting ourselves and our flock from this apostasy.

However, at the same time there is wavering and lack of unity within the Church itself, as well as in many groups close to it, which generally adhere to identical ecclesiological views. If we leave off consideration of personal factors such as pride and lust for power, this is largely explained by a recently-emerging variant of the destructive ecumenical heresy. It claims that in the last times the Church will lose its unity and will consist of separate groups that do not have prayerful and eucharistic communion with each other. This heresy enables the active fragmentation of the Church and the rapid extinction of individual microscopic “churches,” dioceses and communities resulting from such fragmentation (as a consequence of these divisions, today we see individual communities independent of everyone, which consist of only a few people). These groups do not possess the capability to maintain their own activities, not to mention transmitting their faith to the next generation. Such an ecclesiological position, dictated by this new heresy, is more akin to the sin of suicide than to a confession of faith. Today, madmen and apostates, instead of gathering together the flock of Christ, deliberately destroy the Church, organizing strife and division in Her. They even consider this their own special “podvig”. May Christ, who appeared to St. Peter of Alexandria in a torn robe, edify them. He answered St Peter’s question: “Who, O Creator, tore Thy tunic?” with the words: “Arius the madman tore Me apart, for he separated from Me the people whom I acquired by My blood.” The same is now being perpetrated by all sorts of insane schismatics who do not think about the Church, but only see themselves and their own interests.

One should never forget that the Orthodox Church is a Catholic Church. According to the definition of Alexei Khomiakov: “The church is called one, holy, catholic [catholic and universal] and apostolic, because she is one, and holy; because she belongs to the whole world, and not to any particular locality; because by her all mankind and all the earth, and not any particular nation or country, are sanctified; because her very essence consists in the agreement and unity of the spirit and life of all the members who acknowledge her, throughout the world; lastly, because in the writings and doctrines of the Apostles is contained all the fulness of her faith, her hope, and her love.” Of course, because of our small number, we cannot completely realize this in life, but according to Her spirit, the Church should be exactly like this. The opposite of catholicity is individualism, isolation and self-isolation on the one hand, and on the other – self-will and dictatorship. We must distance ourselves both from dictatorship, which is usually manifested in the form of “guruism” - an authoritarian pseudo-spiritual leadership and pseudo-eldership of the leaders of such groups – as well as from the self-isolation and false self-sufficiency which is peculiar to small sects.

Many continue to justify their divisions today with Decree No. 362. But its action, as well as the fact of its ever having been written, are conditioned solely by external circumstances that occurred during a certain historical period when there was a break in communication between the parts of the Church, both within and outside of the Soviet Union. However, today we see the exact opposite situation. Instead of the isolation found in the USSR, technical development makes it possible to communicate with people from all corners of the earth without interference, even without knowing each other’s language. Therefore, this Decree no longer applies to parts of the Russian Church isolated from communication, parts which no longer exist. Instead, this Decree extends to the entire Church, and is mandatory for all without exception.

Today, the following paragraphs of this Decree remain relevant:

2) (…) the diocesan bishop immediately enters into relations with the bishops of neighbouring dioceses for the purpose of organizing a higher instance of ecclesiastical authority for several dioceses in similar conditions (in the form either of a temporary Supreme Church government or a Metropolitan district, or anything else) [i.e. all bishops who have the same confession of faith must unite and organize for themselves the highest organ of ecclesiastical authority].

3) Care for the organization of a Supreme Church Authority is the objective of the entire group of dioceses which find themselves in the position indicated in paragraph 2, is the indispensable obligation of the senior bishop of such a group.

9) In case of the extreme disorganization of ecclesiastical life, when certain persons and parishes cease to recognize the authority of the diocesan bishop, the latter, finding himself in the position indicated in paragraphs 2 and 6, does not relinquish his episcopal powers, but forms deaneries and a diocese; he permits, where necessary, that the divine services be celebrated even in private homes and other places suited therefore, and severs ecclesiastical communion with the disobedient.

[i.e. those unwilling to fulfill paragraph 2 are disobedient to the Church and are the dissenters].

10) All measures taken in places in accordance with the present instruction, afterwards, in the event of the restoration of the central ecclesiastical authority, must be subject to the confirmation of the latter.

These are paragraphs of Decree No. 362 that we must fulfill if we consider ourselves Orthodox Christians.

Guided by this Decree, our Council of Bishops once again appeals to all scattered and fragmented Orthodox Christians with the plea to stop mutual hostility and, in accordance with paragraph 2 of Decree No. 362 (“the diocesan bishop immediately enters into relations with the bishops of neighbouring dioceses for the purpose of organizing a higher instance of ecclesiastical authority”), start discussions with one another. We must pray and make efforts that the present time of “scattering” is changed to a time of formation and gathering.

Now we are living through a period on which the continued existence of the Orthodox Russian Church depends. On the one hand, She is faced with the very imminent threat of union with the Latins, and a complete and final falling away from Holy Orthodoxy, similar to what happened in the 11th century with the Orthodox Roman Church. On the other hand, She is in danger of fragmentation and transformation into small sects that are at war with each other, all of which being threatened with imminent extinction in the near future. It is within our power to stop opposing God, Who acquired the Church through His own sufferings.

“That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me” (John 17:21). Let us not forget that these are not mere words. They are the prayer of the God-man.

AD

AD

THE SISTER CHURCHES

The True Orthodox Churches of Romania, and Bulgaria, and with the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, and with the Synod in Resistance, are called by the Grace of the Lord to coexist in Mysteriological communion.

from §4 of “Schedule of Steps in the Union Process” Feb. 2014

VL AGAFANGEL PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Theotokos and all the Saints: keep our souls unharmed from the destructive influences of globalism, ecumenism, and sergianism, and give all of us the strength to endure the latest onset of persecution of the Church of Christ. Amen

QUOTE

"I have taken you in my arms, and I love you, and I prefer you to my life itself. For the present life is nothing, and my most ardent dream is to spend it with you... I place your love above all things, and nothing would be more bitter or painful to me than to be of a different mind than you.”

St. John Chrysostom

QUOTE

"If we have a good priest (or bishop), we give thanks to God. If a bad one, we endure him".

- old Russian saying

QUOTE

"And here is something to which I would like to draw your attention to – something about which very many do not think about. Father Archimandrite Constantine, whom probably many of you know, the reposed editor of the journal “Orthodox Rus’”, a profound Christian mind, considered that the most terrible among all the achievements of the communists was that the communists created their own false-church, a soviet church which they shoved onto the unfortunate people in place of the genuine Church which went underground into the catacombs. Do not think that I am exaggerating or that Father Constantine was exaggerating!

Once, in the year 1918, a Pan-Russian Church Council was held. At this Council, the entire Pan-Russian Church together with its first holy hierarch, Patriarch Tikhon anathematized, excommunicated from the Church not only the theomachists and godless ones themselves, but also all those who would collaborate with them."

~St. Philaret of NY

QUOTE

"To the Russians abroad, it has been granted to shine in the whole world with the light of Orthodoxy, so that other peoples, seeing their good deeds, might glorify our Father Who is in heaven, and thus obtain salvation for themselves. But if it does not perform this purpose and even abases Orthodoxy by its life, the Diaspora will have before itself two paths: either to be converted to the path of repentance, having acquired forgiveness through prayer to God and being reborn spiritually and to being capable of giving rebirth to our suffering homeland; or else being rejected by God and remaining in banishment, persecuted by everyone, until gradually it will degenerate and disappear from the face of the earth."

from Vladika John's report to the All-Diaspora Sobor in 1938

QUOTE

The apostasy of our times, to a degree unique in Christian history, is proceeding not primarily by false teachings or canonical deviations, but rather by a false understanding of Orthodoxy on the part of those who may even be perfectly Orthodox in their dogmatic teaching and canonical situation. A correct "Orthodoxy" deprived of the Spirit of true Christianity—this is the meaning of Sergianism, and it cannot be fought by calling it a "heresy," which it is not, nor by detailing its canonical irregularities, which are only incidental to something much more important.

- Russia's Catacomb Saints

QUOTE

Let it not be thought, however, that I affirm that it is necessary to prize every peace. For I know that there is a splendid disagreement and the most destructive unanimity. Yet one must love a good peace which has a good purpose: unity with God.

-St. Gregory the Theologian

QUOTE

... To pious Christians the fact that the world has fallen into godlessness is to them obvious, and they are ready to see it as an unfortunate historical inevitability ...

Professor Viktor Trostinkov

QUOTE

If you want to have assurance that you are saved, repent now that you are young and healthy and it is manifest that you left sin while you were still able to sin. But if you persevere in sin into your old age, why then you did not leave sin, but rather sin left you.

St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain

QUOTE

Live in peace not only with your friends, but also with your enemies; but only your personal enemies, and not the enemies of God.

St. Theodosius of the Kiev Caves

QUOTE

Judge not according to appearances, but judge righteous judgment.

St. John 7:24

QUOTE

"If Russia is not ressurrected, a new Golgotha threatens the whole world."

Priest Vladimir Evsukoff 1980†

QUOTE

A man who does not express a desire to link himself to the latest of the saints (in time) in all love and humility owing to a certain distrust in himself, will never be linked to the preceding saints and will not be admitted to their succession, even though he thinks he possesses all possible faith and love for God and for all His saints. He will be cast out of their midst, as one who refused to take humbly the place allotted to him by God before all time, and to link himself to that latest saint (in time) as God had disposed.

St. Symeon the New Theologian

QUOTE

SCOBA, to which world orthodoxy gives such great significance, reproaching us for not belonging to it, actually is in no way a canonical organ. The Russian Church Outside of Russia was invited to take part in these conferences; however, our Church refused to send representatives there after clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate were invited. "We never and nowhere will sit at one table with them; by this our spiritual communion with the Universal Church is not broken."

Archpriest George Grabbe 1969

QUOTE

"Let us always thank the Lord that we are in the Holy Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, which throughout the 80 years of its existence has trodden the straight, royal path of God, without ever turning aside and losing its way."

QUOTE

The passions lying hidden in the soul provide the demons with the means of arousing impassioned thoughts in us. Then, fighting the intellect through these thoughts, they force it to give its assent to sin. When it has been overcome, they lead it to sin in the mind; and when this has been done they induce it, captive as it is, to commit the sin in action. Having thus desolated the soul by means of these thoughts, the demons then retreat, taking the thoughts with them, and only the spectre or idol of sin remains in the intellect. Referring to this our Lord says, 'When you see the abominable idol of desolation standing in the holy place (let him who reads understand)... (Matt 24:15). For man's intellect is a holy place and a temple of God in which the demons, having desolated the soul by impassioned thoughts, set up the idol of sin. That these things have already taken place in history no one, I think, who has read Josephus will doubt; though some say that they will also come to pass in the time of the Antichrist.

Philokalia

QUOTE

There are three things that impel us towards what is holy: natural instincts, angelic powers, and probity of intention. Natural instincts impel us, when, for example, we do to others what we would wish them to do to us (cf. Luke 6:31), or when we see someone suffering deprivation or in need and naturally feel compassion. Angelic powers impel us when, being ourselves impelled to something worthwhile, we find we are providentially helped and guided. We are impelled by probity of intention when, discriminating between good and evil, we choose the good.

Philokalia

QUOTE

The outward Gospel of social idealism is a symptom of loss of faith.

Fr. Seraphim Rose

QUOTE

Impurity of intellect consists first in having false knowledge, ...

Philokalia

QUOTE

Isn't Marx really the third of a trio with Darwin and Freud as a practical source in the war against revealed truth?

Fr. Seraphim Rose

Letters, 1972

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To: ROCA members from the MP

"You have to understand that you have long been in a false church, which implants in its members' souls, a false spirituality, which in turn takes root and grows stronger and stronger, the longer a man stays in it."

Bishop Athanasius, 2014

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Mankind has gone mad, and we see with horror the abyss into which it is being drawn. Let us lay aside every worldly care, and let us fall down in prayer and readiness for the dread Judgment of the Lord. Death will not come with bombs and poisons. Death has already come and take up residence with us and in us, and has made corpses of us, Mammon has overwhelmed this sinful world, which is dominated by Queen Science, Lucifer himself, which with one hand makes medicines and machines for man's foolish happiness and with the other terrorizes him by means of the bomb! Such is the sorry state of knowledge and the agony of the world through and through. Let us lift up our hearts.

-Photios Kontoglou (†1965) letter to Dr. Cavarnos dated 5/10/57

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"Psychopaths are a superior subspecies. We transcend humanity. We are Nature's Supermen. We deserve the subservience and availability of everyone around us. Luckily, every year 100-million people are born throughout the world. We have 100-million new choices every year."

-Sam Vaknin, self-realized psychopath

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Our Saviour placed the Church in the world in order to save the world, and Satan is always trying to place the world into the Church in order to destroy the Church.

attributed to Desert Fathers

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"If you see lying and hypocrisy, expose them in front of all, even if they are clothed inpurple and fine linen."

HALL OF SHAME

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"No one man, or group of men, can himself speak for the Church of Christ. It is nonetheless possible to speak from within the Church, in conformity with Orthodox tradition; and it is this that we shall attempt to do."